ANNUAL ADDEESS. 121 



al and productive labor, of these old despotisms began to be 

 sorely felt, by the idle and squandering drones of aristocracy, 

 and their estates were threatened with ruin and decay, unless 

 some reformatory measure could be adopted, either to check 

 emigration, or replace the loss. The Government, in prospect 

 of rich colonial possessions in the new world, refused to discour- 

 age American settlements ; and therefore the only remedy that 

 remained, was to adopt improved methods of tillage, and ame- 

 liorate the relations of landlord and tenant, and give encourage- 

 ment to the laborer, by increasing his interest in the soil, and 

 reducing his rent service. Thus was induced that wise policy 

 of legislation which gradually but securely elevated the serfs 

 and clowns of the Feudal times, i.ito an independent class of 

 sturdy yeomanry, and placed agriculture the first in importance, 

 in industrial pursuits. As fast as the broken estates of the 

 wasteful and extravagant nobility, were offered for sale, to any 

 having the means to purchase, there sprang up a class of small 

 or middle farmers, who at this day, together with the artisans, 

 manufacturers, merchants and bankers constitute the middle 

 classes, in these old governments, which have now, under the 

 pressure of the great public sentiment, emanating from these 

 classes, been converted into constitutional monarchies. 



Just in proportion as the masses are permitted to hold an in- 

 terest in the soil, and to receive a fair recompense for their labor, 

 the agricultural interest has improved, and been elevated to its 

 true position, and the working classes have attained an indepen- 

 dence and intelligence, and a position of dignity and importance 

 in their civil and social relations — to which they were long es- 

 tranged. I do not wish to say that this is the only cause for 

 the improved and ameliorated condition of Europe ; but that it 

 does stand out in bold relief as one of the most important facts 

 ill history, and based upon reason and philosophy, that it was a 

 most effectual cause to produce this result. 



When, recently, the large landed proprietors of Ireland, were 



compelled to sell and parcel out their estates, to any having the 



means to purchase, emigration from that country has been much 



lessened, and the condition of the country vastly improved. 



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